Monday, May 28, 2007
The Medina Railroad Museum (http://www.railroadmuseum.net/), is situated in the heart of peaceful Medina New York, midway between Niagara Falls and Rochester, and midway between Lake Ontario and Highway I-90.
Check their web site for dates, schedules and so on.
This page records my digital camera images from a visit I made on Saturday May 26th 2007.
Marty, Rol and Dawn were my knowledgeable hosts.
This is a gotta-see. How do I know? My friend Betty has absolutely no background in model trains, things mechanical or electrical. She still thinks I make my living “playing on the computers”, but even she was impressed by what she saw.
If I’ve got my facts right, the shed is over 300 feet long, the layout itself is over 200 feet long. That’s some “toy train” set; over 2,800 square feet of layout.
The walls are lined with organized cases of memorabilia; see page 3418 for example.
The trains run at scale speeds and scale lengths. Some trains scoot along at a scale 60 mph, while long freight trains crawl slowly along the layout. I think they re-appear much later, but it is hard to keep track (good one Chris!), of them because the layout is so long. This is not your regular oval with the train popping into view every fifteen seconds. You walk along the layout, a small scene catches your eye, and while you are distracted, the train has crawled along in the background and is lost to sight until the next time.
Many of the mechanical exhibits are started with a push-button; you are invited to make Ferris wheels go around and the little boy swings from a rope under the river bridge.
The hump yard has 28 parallel tracks.
Marty, Rol and Dawn took time off from their duties to discuss any and all aspects of the models to visitors.
I’d like to say I spent far too much time watching the long freight trains roll by, but that’s not true. I didn’t spend enough time.
And yes, we are going back in time in the future …..
